Micro-Flying - 2005/05

to do their thing. If you happen to be in
the area and would like to make contact,
Hal's address is 8918 Speach Dr.,
Baldwinsville NY 13027.
Some of us may be missing the boat
on facilities such as this. Have you
checked with area churches that have
suitable activities buildings? Not all
would welcome model flying, but it only
takes one.
Ferrell Papic, 300
W. Lincoln #82,
Orange CA 92665,
sent a picture and
some information
about an amazing
project. His model
is a 28-inchwingspan
YB-2,
but the “goodie” is
the motor. I’ll let
Ferrell explain it in
his own words.
“I am sending
you photos of my
4-ounce, threechannel,
28-inchwingspan
RC YB-
2 that is powered
with a dime-size
Dave Robelen
M i c r o - F l y i n g
Route 4, Box 369, Farmville VA 23901; E-mail: [email protected]
This Old-Timer Coronet was built by Ron C. Thomas.
Dick Keith's Coronet is getting attention from Bo and Holden Broughman, Dick, Robert
Anderson, William Riley, and Jim Whitehead.
HELLO MICRO-FLYING FANS! This
month I have a harvest of new projects. I
asked for you to share your efforts and
you came through. Excellent! But first I
will give an update on the National Indoor
Remote-Controlled Aircraft Council
(NIRAC) Championships for 2005.
The site for the event is definite. It will
again be at the golf dome in Waterford,
Michigan, in early October—probably the
first weekend. Work is ongoing relative to
the event lineup as I write this, but one
thing is certain: there will be much more
time allocated for open flying this time.
This year’s CD will be Bob Wilder. I
bet he can get it better organized than I
did. Check the NIRAC Web site
(www.nirac.org) for the most current
information.
I want to thank Hal Stewart, newsletter
editor of the Central New York Indoor
Flying Society, who has been most
generous in sharing this active group’s
publication. With 45 members, the club is
an impressive size and the members have
managed to mix FF and RC in the same
facility. The pictures in the newsletter
show that the members have a wide
variety of interests in their projects.
These lucky people have access to a
church's activities building twice a week
14-gram, 14mm laptop CD brushless
motor that I rewound with 60 turns of 34-
gauge magnet wire.
“The motor mount was made from
metal and plastic tubing that I pressed
onto a hardwood dowel mounted on the
airplane. The aluminum propeller mount
was turned on a lathe and pressed onto the
2mm motor shaft. I replaced the stock
bell-ring magnet with 12 1 x 4 x 5mm
neodynium magnets from www.gobrush
less.com.
“At full power from three 145 mAh
Li-Poly batteries, the motor turns the
GWS 5 x 3 propeller at 11,000 rpm and
draws one amp. Using two 250 mAh Li-
Poly batteries, the motor turns the same
propeller 9,000 rpm and draws 0.6 amp.”
I was impressed with this bit of
craftsmanship and engineering. Way to
go, Ferrell! Thanks for sharing.
The next project comes from Ron C.
Thomas, 17 Red Oak Ln., Alexander NC
28701. Ron went way back in old issues
to find a 1948 Howard McEntee design.
The original model was intended for a
Campus A-100 CO2 motor and was 13
inches in length with an 18-inch
wingspan—a FF model, of course.
Model Airplane News published the
plans in the centerfold of the November
1948 edition. Howard called the model
the Tadpole for fairly obvious reasons.
This brings back fond memories for
me. My father bought a Campus CO2 in
1949, when I was nine. We never did get
it to run, but it sure was fun trying!
May 2005 83
sneaky; you don’t know what you will have
until the model is finished. Fortunately, no
one told the little airplane that it is
overweight, because it flies just great.
Most of the structure is 1⁄32 balsa with a
few blocks in the cowling. When it came time
to finish the wood, I decided to try a new
product from the craft store recommended by
Scott Christensen: Delta Stencil Magic Top
Coat Satin Spray. Sprayed on the bare wood
and sanded with very fine paper, after
roughly three coats, the surface is excellent
and the weight gain is practically nothing.
Why not give it a try?
I bought it at a Ben Franklin craft store
here in Virginia. Scott bought his at a Wal-
Mart in the Midwest, so it is worth
checking around.
The drive is my favorite LV M20
geared 6:1 spinning a 5 x 4 propeller. A
230 mAh Li-Poly battery provides the
electricity. I chose my trusty RFFS-100
receiver and a pair of Dynamic Web
Enterprises/Dynamics Unlimited
(DWE/DU) magnetic actuators.
The plastic parts—including the neat
little horns—are by Gary Hutchison.
DWE/DU sells them at its Web site
www.slowfly.com. Two graphite pegs and
some magnets hold the wing in place to
allow for easy removal.
The little Taylorcraft flies well. It has
good slow-flight characteristics and
excellent turning qualities, but it was not
always that way. The first time out, the
vertical tail was smaller (nearly scale) and
the model had a nasty Dutch Roll whenever
it was disturbed from level flight.
To check a theory, I taped some balsa
on the vertical tail and it made a vast
improvement. This led to cutting another
complete vertical tail, swapping it with the
other, and the problem was solved.
Why all of this? The full-scale machine
has a small propeller blade relative to the
size of the aircraft. When I built my model,
I used the propeller that works well with
this drive. I had forgotten that a nosemounted
propeller is a destabilizing force
on an airplane, and such a drastic change
was enough to push it over the edge.
We never really quit learning, do we?
Happy flying. MA
The author's micro clipped-wing Taylorcraft weighs 30 grams
and has a 15.5-inch wingspan.
Another view of the clipped-wing Taylorcraft shows the larger
vertical tail that the author installed.
84 MODEL AVIATION
The modern version of the aircraft is
constructed from foam, with 1⁄32 stock for
the wing and tail surfaces. Ron took a “nocal”
approach with his model. It is powered
with a KP-00 motor spinning a U80
propeller and draws electricity from a
single 145 mAh Li-Poly cell. The controls
are a JMP receiver that operates two Bob
Selman mini actuators.
Ron did not comment on the aircraft's
flying qualities, but I’ll bet it goes like a
bird. McEntee’s designs were always noted
for their excellent flight qualities. Good
show, Ron.
The next model is a scaled-down Coronet,
built by Dick Keith. The photo shows the
airplane raring to get up into the blue.
Its specifications include a 32-inch
wingspan, a length of 25 inches, and a 5 x 4
propeller. The motor is an ElectriFly T-280
running direct drive. The battery is a sevencell
350 mAh NiMH pack. A Hitec Feather
receiver captures the signals, two Hitec HS-
50 servos move the tail, and an ElectriFly
C-10 ESC controls the motor.
Ron reports that he covered the aircraft
with Solarfilm from Sky Hooks and Rigging,
and he highly recommends it. I have had very
good results with this product as well. A
similar material is Solite from Balsa Products
at www.balspr.com. It may even be the same
thing.
I included one of the photos mainly
because I have never seen so many
modelers show an interest in a small
electric airplane. From the left are Bo
Broughman, Holden Broughman, Dick
Keith, Robert Anderson, William (Bill)
Riley, and Jim Whitehead. Don’t you wish
one of your projects drew that much
attention?
The word is that the smaller Coronet
flies really well, with flight times ranging
from eight to 10 minutes. Way to go, Dick!
My latest micro project is a model of the
clipped-wing Taylorcraft with a wingspan
of 15.5 inches. It weighs 30 grams with the
colored paint finish.
I think the wood I used was heavier than
what I normally work with. Weight is so